Closure of Olinda Road was poorly handled

December 24, 2012

Residing in Olinda for 40 years, I am used to wind-caused power failures. However, I am not used to the manner in which Dec. 18's near-21-hour failure was handled.

Olinda Road was closed all day, and presumably all of the night before, while Maui Electric Co. worked to clear the fallen tree damage. This is completely understandable.

However, at nearly 5 p.m. Dec. 18, after power was finally restored, Olinda Road was still closed so that Time Warner Cable could make repairs - apparently so that its customers, who could not easily get home, could watch television.

No warning of a road closure at the logical location - Hanamu and Olinda roads. Nope. Drive until you reach the closure then backtrack to Makawao and then up Piiholo Road and back down Olinda Road.

Couldn't Time Warner have waited until the next day to repair its cables and allowed residents to get home Tuesday evening? Especially because most Olinda Road residents had already been forced to take this expensive and time-consuming detour in the other direction the same morning.